At tibi prīma, puer, nūllō mūnuscula cultū
errantīs hederās passim cum baccare tellūs
mixtaque rīdentī colocāsia fundet acanthō. 20
ipsae lacte domum referent distenta capellae
ūbera, nec māgnōs metuent armenta leōnēs;
ipsa tibī blandōs fundent cūnābula flōrēs.
occidet et serpēns, et fallāx herba venēnī
occidet; Assyrium vulgō nāscētur amōmum. 25
notes
18–25 Nature will welcomes the boy by spontaneously producing plants; untended goats will produce milk, and the natural world’s harmful elements, predators and poisonous plants, will disappear.
18–20 At tibi prīma, puer, nūllō mūnuscula cultū / errantīs hederās passim cum baccare tellūs / mixtaque rīdentī colocāsia fundet acanthō: = at tibi, puer, tellūs prīma mūnuscula, hederās passim cum baccare errantīs mixtaque acanthō rīdentī colocāsia, nūllō cultū fundet. The core subject-object-verb structure is tellūs - prīma mūnuscula -fundet. mūnuscula is the diminutive of mūnus.
18 at: signals the child’s birth and the Golden Age’s first stage; at in verse 26 marks the second stage, youth; and hinc at verse 37 marks the culminating third stage, adulthood.
18 nūllō … cultū: ablative of means explaining fundet.
19 errantīs hederās passim cum baccare: participial phrase in apposition to prīma mūnuscula as a direct object of fundet in verse 20.
20 mixtaque rīdentī colocāsia … acanthō: another phrase in apposition to prīma mūnuscula as a direct object of fundet in verse 20; the perfect passive participle mixta modifies colocāsia; rīdentī … acanthō is an ablative of accompaniment used with mixta.
21 ipsae: “of their own accord”; the she-goats (capellae) willingly return home to be milked, another example of the idealized natural order during the Golden Age.
21 domum: acc. place to which (AG 427).
22 tibī: dative of reference or advantage (AG 376).
23 blandōs: "to charm and delight you" (Coleman).
25 nāscētur: contrasts with occidet.
vocabulary
mūnusculum –ī n.: a small gift or favor
cultus cultūs m.: cultivation
hedera –ae f.: ivy
passim: here and there, everywhere
baccar –aris n.: baccar, cyclamen, a small fragrant plant
colocāsium –ī n.: Egyptian bean, marsh lily
acanthus –ī m.: acanthus
lac –lactis n.: milk
distendō –ere –tendī –tentus: to stretch out; distend; fill
capella capellae f.: she-goat
ūber ūberis n.: udder
armentum –ī n.: cattle; herd
leō leōnis m.: lion
blandus –a –um: charming, pleasant
cūnābula –ōrum n.: a cradle; birthplace
occidō occidere occidī occāsus: to fall, perish; die
serpēns –entis: creeping thing; snake
fallax –ācis: deceitful, treacherous, false
herba herbae f.: grass, herb
venēnum venēnī n.: poison
occidō occidere occidī occāsus: to fall, perish; die
Assyrius –a –um: Assyrian
amōmum –ī n.: amomum, a kind of spice